You are here

25 Years of Beautiful Bedrooms

Bedrooms are the most sacred rooms in the home. They're our sweet retreats—highly personal spaces where we wind down and recharge. Whether they have soaring ceilings or cozy nooks, dramatic canopies or chic headboards, well-crafted bedrooms always delight. It wasn’t easy for our editors to cull the best of the best from 25 years' worth of sleeping spots, but here are some of our favorites.

Tulsa designer Charles Faudree combined precious antique furnishings and collections very liberally to transform his straitlaced Oklahoma saltbox into an elegant showcase. Charles believed in layering the home with accessories and personal collections. “They are every bit as vital to the end result,” he said. “They’re the frosting on the cake.” This belief is evident in his guest room, which doubled as a showcase for his Napoléon memorabilia, including statuary, portraits, medals, and regalia. Charles disassembled a French daybed to make caned headboards for the room’s two twin beds.

Written by Heather WrightProduced by Nancy IngramDesign: Charles Faudree

When Minneapolis designer Brian Ellingson outgrew his first condominium, he bought two adjoining units 11 floors above, knocked down a few walls, and fashioned a modern penthouse in classic style.

The master bedroom is connected to the library by double six-panel doors. Brian describes the hunter-green-and-mahogany theme shared by the two rooms as “masculine without being macho.” An 18th-century reproduction secretary provides space for antique books and other collections and complements both the color and scale of the canopy bed.

Written by Heather WrightProduced by Sharon RossDesign: Brian Ellingson

Designer Richard Eustice gave a '50s home on Maryland's Eastern Shore an update with his crisp, clean interior design. All the pieces of the bedroom—the painted floor, the pencil-post beds with matelassé coverlets, the grain-painted chest, the hand-hooked peacock rug—fit perfectly. Taking advantage of the waterfront setting, Eustice made use of a marine motif, but took great care not to go overboard.

With their children grown up and gone, interior designer Suzy Stout and her husband remodeled their suburban Chicago house. Suzy parted with tired colors and fabrics to infuse exuberant colors throughout the home.

The master bedroom has the brightest of outlooks. Among its many uplifting assets is the pitched farm-country ceiling coupled with an elegant crystal chandelier. Also stout-hearted is the blue-and-white color scheme, romanced with a soft kiss of pink.

Designer Michael Moore's instructions in this 1928 Italian-style villa in San Francisco called for subtle beauty and refinement, without any extravagance or trendiness.

Fulfilling the homeowner’s wish for a romantic bedroom, Moore created a warm, luxurious retreat as beckoning as a bridal suite. The star attraction is the canopy bed, which he describes as a “romantic haven within the larger space of the room.” Moore used texture to give depth and finish to the mostly white room. On the bed are damask curtains, an appliquéd cornice and bed skirt, and a matelassé bedcover. Lace panels and striated silk curtains adorn the windows.

A woven carpet in greens and pinks drove the soothing color scheme in this Cape Cod Academy Designer Showhouse bedroom. Walls, glazed and striated lettuce green, are set off by white woodwork and wisps of gauzy cotton curtains that billow in the breeze. The bedroom’s focal point is an adaptation of a West Indies-style mahogany four-poster draped with mosquito netting and dressed in fine linens. The wide-striped duvet reverses to a narrower stripe on the diagonal.

Interior designer Michael Berman melded memories of 1930s and '40s Hollywood in this Pasadena Showhouse bedroom. Berman started by bleaching and whitewashing the floors and painting all the crown and picture moldings dove white. The walls are evenly studded with upholstery tacks centered precisely on hand-painted stars.

The focal point of the room is the bed, fully upholstered in a caramel-and-white canopy-striped fabric. Berman placed the bed in front of a bay with diamond-pane windows, then framed the area with draperies hung from a canopy-like cornice. A Japanese altar table sits at the foot of the bed.

The design of this Union Pier, Michigan, bedroom is rooted in simplicity. “It centers on a pretty basic concept of a lot of white and a lot of natural elements,” homeowner Laurie Stallone said, “whether it’s wicker or sisal or pine, linen, cotton, or canvas.

Although small, the master bedroom feels spacious, thanks to the expansive use of white at the windows and on the bed. The bedside tables—fashioned by Laurie—are actually new picnic baskets placed on black wooden stands. Wire lamps were chosen for their simple, sculptural shapes.

The upstairs of this circa-1840 Federal farmhouse in Essex, Connecticut, was once a warren of small rooms with low ceilings and narrow hallways, but was converted into the three-room master suite. Gutted to the roof, the space gradually emerged as an aerie softened by new moldings and French windows overlooking formal gardens at the back of the house. The romantic master bedroom is a study in textures. Soft, nubby chenille on the headboard and throw acts as a counterpoint to the crisp silk taffeta bed skirt.

Designer John Barman’s weekend house in Bridgehampton, New York, radiates confidence, character and consistency throughout. Bold pattern appears even in the serene master bedroom, etched in black and white with sweeps of rich mahogany. The throw at the foot of the bed reverses to black ground with white zigzags.

The owners of this circa-1797 Charleston, South Carolina, home worked with preservation planner John Laurens and designer Ritva Heino to respectfully update the interiors for a family with children. What was once a separate kitchen building at the rear of the house became a guesthouse. There, the bedroom cossets visitors in casual luxury, with paneled walls painted pristine white, natural wicker seating pieces, and a bed topped with a cozy cashmere throw from Italy.

Cher Beall's modest 1930s beach house was small, tired, and badly configured. It had narrow halls, little rooms, and limited access to its biggest virtue—a glorious view of the Pacific Ocean. So Cher added 800 square feet of living space, most of which became a second-story master suite with French doors leading out to a balcony with ocean views. A sea-grass floorcovering, creamy walls, and neutral furnishings put the accent here firmly on the view.

Tranquil design prevailed at the Cape Cod Conservatory Showhouse. The 1895 home has views of the shimmery Atlantic, where a spectrum of blues presents itself daily—a palette that interior designers Dianne Tappé and Barbara Kotzen borrowed for the sophisticated-yet-cozy master bedroom.

An oversized silk plaid became the room’s focal point. It drops from the regal bed’s pelmet, which is trimmed with a painted shell motif, and puddles on the sisal-look carpet. At the windows, pleated drapery panels top woven-straw roll-up blinds. On the Louis XVI-style bed, scalloped edges on the white cotton matelassé coverlet mimic waves lapping at the shore visible from the window. An easy chair in off-white terry reminiscent of a beach towel makes a cozy reading area.

Interior designer Marshall Watson imbued a new house in St. Louis with 19th-century European sensibilities and 21st-century American comforts. The Gallic-inspired guest suite offers the ambience of an attic bedroom in a French inn. To further suggest the idea of escape, Watson chose a French toile depicting ballooning in the French countryside for the upholstered walls, the bed, and pillows. An uncommon touch is an American hand-braided rug that hints at country French style. Painted side tables, circa 1910, balance the visually heavier 18th-century French fruitwood armoire.

Country French detailing distinguishes this custom home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where antique furniture warms up comfortable new pieces. In the bedroom, a new bed from Oly pairs with an antique rug from Turkey and an antique Wedgwood bedside lamp. A calm pastel palette lets the exquisite furnishings speak for themselves.

Written and produced by Candace Ord ManroeInterior design: Gretchen Edwards

Boston-area chef Stephanie hired interior designer Nancy McLaughlin to bring the rooms of her new house to life. A fan of the color red, toile de Juoy, antique linens, and Staffordshire pottery, Stephanie wanted her home be the visual equivalent of comfort food—feel-good fabrics in warm earth tones. In the bedroom, that manifests in abundant mustard yellow toile, of which Stephanie says, “More is better.”

Written by Doris AthineosProduced by Hillary MaharamInterior design: Nancy McLaughlinArchitect: John MacDonald

The master suite in designer Gail Green's Park Avenue apartment embraces the motifs and style elements of 18th-century Scottish architect and designer Robert Adam, a man whose classic aesthetic is admired by traditionalists the world over. Blissfully serene in blue and white, the room pays tribute to Adam in its furnishings and fabrics.

Earthy browns and greens prevail in interior designer Bill Murphy’s updated 1960s ranch house in Atlanta. Uninhibited views of the wooded backyard influenced the home's palette, which appears in the guest bedroom as brown ticking fabric on the walls and brown toile draperies. English transferware hangs above the bamboo headboard. A bronze Chinese incense burner floats on an acrylic stand in the corner, and an antique magnifying glass sits on a side table.

Chicago-based interior designer Tom Stringer renovated his 1906 townhouse to ensure a seamless flow from room to room. Antiques and modern furniture are highlighted throughout by a restrained palette of beiges and chocolate browns. In the master bedroom, warm chocolate walls and graphic patterned carpet make a dramatic backdrop. A French crystal chandelier glimmers overhead.

A large-scale medallion print served as designer Kelly Proxmire's jumping-off point for this refined refuge, the master bedroom in the D.C. Design House.

The spacious room's centerpiece is an upholstered headboard tucked into a billowing canopy treatment. The happy pattern in robin’s-egg blue and ivory—also used on the pleated valance, the bed curtains, and the duvet—draws attention to the bed and helps pull its pillows, linens, and bed skirt together.

Written by Krissa RossbundProduced by Eileen A. DeymierDesign: Kelly Proxmire

The design of this Indiana lake house revolves around the favored colors and collections of the homeowners—antique quilts and blue-and-white china.

Blue-and-white toile fabric by Hinson & Company was used for wallcoverings, bedding, and furniture in the master suite. The upholstered headboard is illuminated by sconces from Circa Lighting and accented by a painted wood arch. A blue-and-white needlepoint rug by Stark Carpet introduces a simple grid design underfoot.

A mismatched aesthetic brings loads of charm to this new Atlanta home. In the guest bedroom, a bird-themed linen adorns the canopy and bed curtains. The headboard is upholstered in a Kravet raffia. Walls are painted Farrow & Ball’s “Light Blue”—homeowner and designer Lori Tippins’s go-to color.

Designer Colette van den Thillart composed a comfortably grand home for her family of four in Toronto. “I wanted this house to have a sense of flamboyance and grandeur,” Colette says. “But at the end of the day, it’s a casual family home, and it’s meant to be comfortable.”

Inspired by pinks and violets of the northern Canadian light, the master bedroom is as glamorous as it is cozy. A regal lilac-on-white patterned headboard (designed by Colette) is offset by white-on-lilac curtains. A Belgian oak settee upholstered with faux fur huddles with tufted slipper chairs. All-but-invisible Lucite benches add storage space under the graceful night tables.

A New York couple hired designers Mariette Himes Gomez and Brooke Gomez to help them decorate their new apartment after seeing their work in a design book. The sophisticated and serene interiors are filled with clean lines and neutral tones. A soft-blue tufted headboard from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams set the tone for the master bedroom. The rose-pattern custom wallpaper in shades of muted gray was designed by Ted Tyler.